Rise From The Wraith

THE MARK

Commander Alric immediately ordered the eastern gate sealed off from nonessential personnel. The symbol was photographed and copied into an official report, but he forbade anyone from touching the mark. Even the guards were ordered to remain silent about what they had witnessed.

“Keep this out of the general reports,” Alric instructed. “No one discusses the symbol outside the command center. Understood?”

A young lieutenant glanced at the strange mark on the ground. “With all due respect, Commander, do we know who made it?”

Alric gave him a hard look. “If we did, I wouldn't be standing here asking questions.”

He took the photograph from the communications officer and placed it inside a black folder. Instead of returning to the command center, he headed for the old administration building, a facility that had been abandoned after headquarters moved to a newer section of the outpost.

Behind a locked steel door on the second floor lay an archive absent from the official records. Alric unlocked it, crossed the dusty room, and opened a safe. Inside was a thin folder sealed with red wax.

PROJECT ECHO — RESTRICTED ACCESS.

He placed the photograph beside an image inside the folder. The markings were not identical, but the main curve and three short lines beneath it matched perfectly. Alric had not seen that symbol in years, and he had hoped he never would again.

He turned to a page he remembered all too well.

‘If this mark appears outside the research site, do not regard it as an ordinary message or threat. Its appearance may indicate that something believed to be lost still retains a connection to its original source.’

Alric closed the folder. He had once believed Project Echo was nothing more than a failed experiment, a dark chapter buried beneath decades of classified records. But the Wraiths at the eastern gate had changed everything. They had gathered in unprecedented numbers, ignored the outpost's defenses, and vanished without attacking.

Now the symbol had appeared.

He took out a specialized communicator and opened an encrypted channel.

“I need access to the extended Project Echo archives.”

A man's voice answered after a brief delay. “On what grounds?”

“The symbol has appeared at the eastern gate.”

Silence followed.

“That's impossible. All records concerning that symbol should have been secured.”

“I saw it myself.”

“Are there witnesses?”

“The entire gate security team.”

“Then make sure no copy of the report enters the general system. I'll contact you again.”

The connection ended abruptly. Alric stared at the communicator before returning the folder to the safe. Someone else knew what the symbol meant, and that person was determined to keep the past buried.

Kael remained in the infirmary, unable to forget the strange sensation that had seized him when the Wraiths appeared. The pain in his injured leg had subsided, but a faint burning sensation lingered beneath the bandage. He tried to convince himself it was merely part of the healing process.

Then he remembered the whisper.

“Find us...”

The words had sounded distant, yet unmistakably clear. Kael had no idea who—or what—had spoken to him. He only knew that the voice had appeared when the strange symbol was nearby, and the two events could not be a coincidence.

As evening approached, a knock sounded at the infirmary door. Commander Alric entered carrying the same black folder. His expression was stern, and he wasted no time with greetings. When General Alric entered the infirmary, Lyra happened to be in the room alone with Kael.

“Lyra, I need to speak with Kael in private.”

Lyra glanced at Kael, sensing the tension in the room, but she did not question the order. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

After the door closed, Alric placed a photograph on the small table beside Kael's bed. It showed the symbol carved into the ground in front of the eastern gate.

“Have you seen this mark before?”

Kael studied the image. “No. But when I look at it, my leg starts burning. I also hear a voice.”

“What does it say?”

“I'm not sure. It told me to find them.”

Alric's expression hardened. “If you hear that voice again, do not follow it. Stay away from the Wraiths, and do not tell anyone about this conversation.”

Kael frowned. “Why? What exactly is this symbol?”

“Some things become more dangerous when you only understand half of them.”

“That's not an answer.”

“No, it isn't. And you're not ready for the full truth.”

Alric picked up the photograph and slipped it back into the folder. He was almost at the door when he stopped.

“Kael, when you encountered the Wraith in that abandoned building, did one of them say your name?”

Kael froze.

He had never told anyone about the whisper he had heard that night. He had barely admitted it to himself, dismissing the memory as a product of fear and blood loss.

“How did you know?”

Alric slowly turned around. For the first time since Kael had known him, the commander seemed genuinely shaken.

“Because,” he said quietly, “in all the records of Project Echo, only one human name was ever recorded as having been spoken by a Wraith.”

He opened the folder and showed Kael its final page. Beneath the same symbol was a name written in black ink.

KAEL ARVEN.